Saint Maurice

Saint Maurice (250-287) was the legatus in command of the Theban Legion of the Roman Empire. Born in Thebes, Egypt in 250 AD to an African family, he became a soldier in the Roman Army and became commander of the 6,600-strong Theban Legion. The legion, composed entirely of Christians, was sent to crush the Bagaudae peasant insurgents in Burgundy, but Maurice refused to make sacrifices to the Roman emperor Maximian, also refusing to harass local Christians. Maximian ordered every tenth soldier of the legion to be executed in "decimation", and Maximian ordered another decimation due to the stubborn attitude of the brave soldiers. Eventually, all of the soldiers were executed, Maurice among them. Agaunum, the site of their martyrdom, was renamed Saint Maurice-en-Valais, Switzerland in his honor.